Before Summer Ends
by fangirlwriting
Summary: Phineas' List of Things to Do Before Summer Ends: -Final picnics -Water balloons. Just. Yeah. -Go swimming a lot -Confess to liking Isabella -Spend a bunch of time with Perry -Choose college -Camping trip -Epic fireworks display -Figure out what makes those tiny umbrellas in those fruity drinks so great -Bonfire -Build a drive-in theater -Grand Finale -Say goodbye to Ferb...


Ferb was actually leaving for college before Phineas. Isabella had left a little less than two weeks ago, and Phineas was following in a couple days, but his brother was leaving tomorrow morning. So the two had spent the night heading around town to various places from over the years that had become important to them. As you could imagine, it turned into quite a long night. By the time they both made it back to the house, it was past 2 in the morning.

Ferb had already gotten everything out of their room, and Phineas had moved all the things from his side of the room back over. Ferb had given an amused chuckle when he noticed, mostly because Phineas would have to take everything down soon anyway.

But although Ferb hit the pillow and was out like a light, Phineas found himself unable to sleep. When he glanced over at his nightstand and saw it was now 3AM, his eyes wandered over to the empty space where Ferb's nightstand had been less than a day ago.

Suddenly, the fact hit him like a truck: Ferb would not be there two days from now. Phineas would not be seeing him every day anymore.

He had been ignoring that fact for… it felt like years, and now he couldn't anymore, because tomorrow it would become reality.

Phineas sat back against the pillow with wide eyes, suddenly feeling like panicking. The entire night, heck, the entire _week_ even, the two had been doing what they called their 'Grand Finale.' Final days of the final summer. Have to make 'em big.

They _were_ big. They were huge and fun and felt like everything Phineas had ever loved about summer vacation mashed into one giant celebratory ending.

So how had he missed the 'ending' part?

He wasn't sure exactly when it had happened, but at some point he must have fallen asleep, because he… woke up. It was still dark outside— Phineas was a short sleeper— but it was definitely later. When he glanced over at the clock, it was about 4. Ferb was not yet awake. Yeah, he'd probably be asleep for a while yet.

Phineas felt a tight lump in his chest that seemed to have formed while he slept. It was hard to breathe around it.

His assumption about Ferb seemed to have been wrong, because suddenly he heard: "Phineas?" Phineas jerked his head over to see his brother sitting up. "Are you okay?"

Phineas cleared his throat. "I don't need a lot of sleep, Ferb. You know that."

"Phineas, we got home late and it's been less than two hours. Even you need more sleep than that." He shifted forward and swung his legs over the side of the bed. "Is something wrong?"

"What? No, nothing's wrong, I was just—"

"Phineas."

Phineas was silent for a couple seconds. "You're leaving." he said softly.

Ferb raised an eyebrow. "Ah, so you finally got there."

Phineas turned to Ferb in surprise. "You knew I didn't get it."

"I was waiting for it to hit you."

Phineas leaned back against the headboard. "So, what then?" he sighed. "You're gonna be across the ocean, Ferb."

"Yes." Ferb admitted. "That's true. But it's not going to change anything."

"How?" Phineas asked. "I mean, I'm not going to be seeing you everyday anymore…"

Ferb gave Phineas a thoughtful look. "How about we go to one more place?" he asked.

"What? Where? Do we have time for that?"

"Time's not relevant with this one."

"Um… okay." Phineas said, swinging his legs out bed. He had a feeling he knew where Ferb was talking about.

Neither of them bothered to get dressed, rather sneaking quietly down to the garage and getting in the car, Ferb remembering to grab his license at the last second.

"Won't mom and dad wake up if you start the car?" Phineas asked.

"No, _you_ would wake up if someone started the car," Ferb said, starting the car.

Phineas shrugged. "True."

They backed out of the garage and onto the road. Ferb seemed to know exactly where he was going, and sure enough, they pulled to a stop in a parking lot at the museum.

"Isn't it closed?" Phineas asked.

"A bit." Ferb called, pulling out their molecular scrambler orb… the one that allowed them to walk through walls.

"Dude, how long have you been planning this?" Phineas asked.

"Not relevant. Let's go."

As Phineas climbed out of the car he was thinking Ferb probably knew him way too well.

Neither of them said anything as they walked across the parking lot towards the doors to the museum. It wasn't until Ferb turned on the orb and walked them through the doors that Phineas spoke up again. "So why are we here?" he asked, though he was pretty sure he already knew.

"Come on." Ferb said, and just like Phineas had guessed they would, the two walked straight towards the time machine.

"So when are we going exactly?" Phineas said with a smile.

"You'll see. I can't give away the best part." Ferb said, raising an eyebrow.

Phineas sighed in vexation and climbed into the time machine. Ferb pulled out his phone and opened a note with a bunch of dates on it.

"Geez Ferb, how long _have_ you been planning this?" Phineas asked in slight amazement.

"I told you, it's not relevant." Ferb said, turning and typing the first date into the machine. "But all summer."

Phineas' eyes widened, and then he laughed. "You do know me way too well."

"That's probably true." Ferb admitted, pulling the handle and sending them both backwards in time.

When they arrived, Phineas couldn't tell when they were at first, which wasn't all that surprising. They were right outside the gate of their backyard, the top of the time machine just covered by the fence.

"Oh." came a familiar voice. Phineas and Ferb both peaked around the side of the machine to see Baljeet and Buford. "It is you two again." Baljeet said.

"Again?" Phineas asked.

"Yeah, just have fun relivin' your memories." Buford said, waving as the two walked towards the gate. "We're gonna go live 'em for the first time."

"Wha—" Phineas started, but then Buford and Baljeet walked into the gate. He turned to Ferb. "What was that about?"

Ferb shrugged. "I dunno yet." he said. "Come on." They both walked forward, crouched down, and peeked over the top of the fence to see Buford and Baljeet meet up with the past versions of themselves.

"When was this?" Phineas hissed.

"About a week and a half ago." Ferb replied.

"Wait a minute, that's it!" Past Phineas called. "I know what we're gonna do today!" He grabbed his sketchbook from where it was sitting nearby and held it up for everyone to see. "We're planning!"

"Planning for what?" Buford asked.

"A grand finale!" Phineas called happily. "We might do one every summer for the last day, but this is the _last summer._ We gotta go bigger than just one day." He flipped to the last pages in the sketchbook. The last pages for the last days of the last summer. It fit just a little too well.

Phineas turned to Ferb in confusion. "Why did we come back here?" he asked.

"Just watch. And stop talking for five seconds, Mr. Chatterbox."

Phineas grumbled under his breath and turned back to the backyard, where the group was sitting down in a circle and past Ferb was grabbing his own pencil, making notes on the sides of Phineas' designs.

"We going to invite Isabella?" Buford asked. "I mean, she might already be at college, but she'd probably be able to come down for a few hours with a teleporter."

"Yeah, we can invite her." Phineas said happily. "It'll be fun."

Back then, Phineas remembered thinking 'my girlfriend' pretty often, even though he was saying 'her' or 'Isabella.' It was a little embarrassing, but also the first time he'd gotten to think of Isabella that way. He also remembered thinking about how it would be nice to have everyone back together again for the last couple days of summer.

Isabella had not gotten to come for long, but she'd just made the visit to the Shooting Star Milkshake Bar. (Buford had said something about "No two-straws allowed.")

In the scene in front of them, Ferb was pointing out how to do this or that better, and suggesting 'Hey, wouldn't it be neat if…'

After a while, Phineas grew confused. "Ferb, why did we come here?" he asked. "I mean, we're not really doing anything much… just planning for something you and I already did."

Ferb raised an eyebrow. "Are we? Come on, then." He turned and walked back towards the time machine.

"Wait, what?" Phineas asked, even as he followed and slid into the seat after Ferb. Ferb input another date and sent them both farther back in time, once again outside the backyard.

"Oh, um… h-hey future Phineas." came Isabella's voice.

They both turned to see, once again, Buford, Baljeet, and Isabella this time, who was bright red and squeezing her hands together.

This time, the three of them looked closer to 16.

"Uh… are you okay?" Phineas asked.

"Oh, don't mind her." Buford said, rolling his eyes. "She's just still freaking out after what she said to you last time."

Phineas tipped his head. "Last time?"

"Umm…" Isabella squeaked and darted in through the gate.

Baljeet sighed, and turned to face Ferb. "I have tried to point out that the 'you twos' from after it happened wouldn't know about it, and the _hers_ from before it happened wouldn't know about it, but she will not listen. Lord knows the day she was having. Good luck." He turned and walked through the gate, followed by Buford.

Phineas gave Ferb a look. "What is going on?"

"It's possible," Ferb mused, "that they've been seeing us for years, where as we've only seen them twice. It's also possible they know things we don't yet because we have yet to go back to that time."

Phineas groaned and pressed his hands to his head. "My brain hurts."

"That's time travel for you." Ferb said. They both climbed out of the time machine and walked up to the fence. Inside were several-years-in-the-past versions of Phineas, Isabella, Buford, and Baljeet, as well as a holographic projection of Ferb.

"Oh, this was the week you and Dad went to visit your cousins." Phineas realized. He gave Ferb a look. "Are you trying to say we can use holographic projections to talk while we're in college?"

"Just watch, you loon."

Phineas turned back around.

"By the way, Candace called asking about Eliza." past Phineas said. "She says she would've called instead, but she still doesn't have international coverage."

"Eliza…" Ferb hesitated. "Oh, I'm just going to come out and say it. She's boring, and I don't know how Candace can stand her."

Buford snorted.

"Ferb! What if Eliza hears you?" Phineas asked, crossing his arms.

"Look, she's been back from her college for about a day and has talked about nothing but how well she's doing in all of her classes."

"She's a _lady."_ Isabella said pointedly, seeming to have gotten over her embarrassment in the driveway, though Phineas could've sworn he saw her gaze wandering. "You have to get to know her before she opens up to you."

"I'm her _cousin._ " Ferb said in exasperation.

"That changes nothing." Isabella said.

"Apparently it did for Candace." Phineas said with a grin. "Because she talks about how much Eliza loves rock music _all the time."_

"Why can't I talk to _that_ Eliza?" Ferb asked, rubbing his forehead.

"Get. To. Know. Her." Isabella said pointedly.

Ferb did not look amused. "You get know her." he muttered. "Then we'll talk."

"Aww, is Ferb bored?" Buford asked, folding his hands together.

"Shut up, or I will zap you in your sleep."

"From halfway across the globe?"

"Don't test me."

Phineas, watching from behind the fence, hid a laugh behind his hands as past him did not bother to hide anything.

"It's been two years and that's still funny." Phineas said, wiping a fake tear from his eye. Ferb smacked him upside the head, and he had to work harder to hide his laughter.

"I can zap you from halfway across the globe too, you know." Ferb said with a very real threat in his voice.

Phineas kept snickering anyway.

"Alright, and we're out of here."

Ferb walked back over to the time machine and climbed in, while Phineas glanced back over the fence one more time to see Buford smirking at him with raised eyebrows, which made him grin.

Then he walked back over and climbed into the time machine again.

"I thought this was supposed to be cheering me up." Phineas asked with a grin.

"You look cheered up enough from this particular day." Ferb said.

Phineas laughed again as Ferb sent them back once more in time.

By the time they arrived at the next time, Ferb's annoyance seemed to have toned down, and Phineas was already looking behind them to see Isabella, Buford, and Baljeet approach. This time they all looked about thirteen.

Buford sighed. "Oh, it's you two again. When are you gonna stop showin' up?"

"Buford, they are trying to cheer up Phineas." Baljeet said, crossing his arms. "Leave them be."

"Wha— Ferb!" Phineas snapped. "You _told_ them?!"

"Not yet!"

"Oh, but you will?"

"I don't know! And stop screaming or we're going to let on that we're here!"

"Apparently you already have to those three." Phineas said, crossing his arms in annoyance.

"Oh, no, that was you." Baljeet said to Phineas. Buford snorted.

The two paused.

"Oh." Phineas said.

Ferb shot a glare over at Phineas.

"W-woah." Isabella said. Phineas glanced over at her. "You're even cuter when you're older." She suddenly gasped and covered her mouth at the same time Phineas went bright red.

Ferb burst out laughing. "Well, yeah, if she said _that_ to you." he wheezed through laughter.

" _Ferb!"_ Phineas snapped.

Isabella squeaked in despair and ran through the gate, followed by a laughing Buford and an exasperated Baljeet.

Phineas was still trying to get the blush out of his cheeks and Ferb was still laughing, trying to be quiet enough no one could hear him.

Eventually they both walked forward towards the fence to see what was going on in the backyard.

"Okay, so if we add the train section over here instead…" Phineas was muttering.

"HI PHINEAS WHATCHA DOIN'?!" Isabella shrieked.

Phineas and Ferb both jumped, glancing up to see the other three arriving. "Uh, hi Isabella." Phineas said. "Are you okay?"

"I— um, I— Eeep!" she turned and ran back out of the gate, purposely avoiding the gazes of the Phineas and Ferb watching.

Back across the fence, Baljeet smacked his forehead and Buford cackled.

Past Phineas and Ferb shared a look.

"Uh, guys, what's going on?"

"Oh, don't mind her." Buford said. "You wouldn't understand anyway."

"Wh— what?" past Phineas asked, glancing over at past Ferb, who had put the pieces together and was rolling his eyes.

"She'll be fine by tomorrow, Phin." Ferb told him. "What were we doing today?"

"Uh…" past Phineas looked around, still wondering what exactly the others weren't telling him, but after a moment he turned back to the drawing in front of him. "Okay…"

"Ferb, why are we coming back to these days in particular?" Phineas asked, turning to his brother. "I mean, this is the kind of stuff we do everyday. There are some differences, obviously, but… am I supposed to be seeing something I'm not seeing?"

Ferb smiled knowingly. "Come on. We've got more places to see."

He turned and walked back to the time machine.

"Ferb, can you just tell me what I'm supposed to be getting from this?" Phineas asked as Ferb sent them back in time.

"Yes, because that will help." Ferb said. They arrived at their next location. "That's exactly what I'm not supposed to do."

"Well— clearly I'm not exactly quick on the uptake. And I think—"

"Oh my goodness!"

They turned, and there was ten-year-old Baljeet.

"You are continuing a conversation from years ago! I mean— from years in the future! How does that work, what were you talking about, tell me everything!"

"Uh…" Phineas started.

"Why are you guys back again anyway?" Isabella asked. "Are you going to show up after this?"

"I hope so!" Baljeet called.

Ferb turned to Phineas and raised an eyebrow.

"…what?"

"You told them in the first place why we're doing this."

"But— only because Baljeet said I did! You tell them!"

"Hey, you want to mess with the timeline?"

Phineas groaned. He turned to the other three. "Ferb planned this whole thing to cheer me up." he said, eyes narrowed in annoyance.

"Aw, and it's working." Ferb said, pulling Phineas into a one-armed hug.

"Shut up, you!" Phineas snapped, shoving Ferb away.

"Wow. Ferb talks a lot more in the future." Buford said.

"Thanks for noticing." Ferb said with a proud grin.

"Ugh, don't give him any more reason to be full of himself." Phineas grumbled.

"Ah yes, that's what I am. When someone thinks 'Ferb Fletcher' the first thing that comes to mind is 'full of himself.'" Ferb said, raising an eyebrow.

"That's not— you— shut up."

"Okay, we gotta go." Isabella said. "Phineas told everyone to be here early today."

"Everyone?" Phineas asked. He turned to Ferb. "When are we?"

Ferb pointed behind the time machine, and they both looked back to see dozens of other kids, all who filed into the backyard after Isabella, Buford, and Baljeet.

Afterwards, the two crept up to the fence.

"Hey, Phineas." Isabella said. "What'cha doin— up so early?"

"Oh, I remember this." Phineas realized.

"Today is the Summer Solstice. The longest day of the year." past Phineas said. "And Ferb and I are gonna make it even longer."

"So you built the statue of liberty?" Isabella asked.

"No… oh wow, that is weird." past Phineas said, noticing the tarp covering their plane. He pulled the tarp off to reveal Ferb and the Sun Beater 3000.

"The amazing Sun Beater 3000!"

"Wow!"

"Amazing!"

"It's a name followed by a big number!"

"Yeesh. The 'beat' part is right." Phineas muttered from behind the fence. "I don't think we've ever had an invention get as screwed up as that one."

"It's fast and it runs of vegetable oil, so it's environmentally friendly." past Phineas continued explaining. "In this ship, we will travel around the world as the sun does, making this— the longest day of summer— even longer. That'll give us 24 hours of continuous daylight. Add to that the extra 15 hours we would've had anyway, and that's almost a 40 hour day!"

"It can't be done! There's only 24 hours in a day and that's that!" past Buford interrupted.

"Well, yes and no." he turned to a tarp that looked like The Discobolus of Myron, continuing to explain. "You see, Buford if you define the day by the passage of the sun…"

"You know, we never did figure out how that—" Phineas turned and stopped when he noticed Ferb holding an illusion ray gun. He gasped. "That was _you!"_ he exclaimed, smacking Ferb on the back of the head.

Ferb grinned. "Come on, we have a couple more." he said, turning back towards the time machine.

Phineas sighed. "And off we go."

"We can't follow them around the whole day. Believe me, I kind of want to as well."

"It was a good one." Phineas said with a smile. Ferb sent them back again. "So are you trying to tell me we've never been limited by distance?"

"That's certainly a good takeaway, but not exactly what I'm trying to tell you."

"Well, then what is it?"

"Patience, Phineas. Come on."

Phineas grumbled under his breath as they arrived again.

"Oh my goodness who are you?!" came Isabella's voice. She still looked about ten years old when they glanced behind at her, and she was backing away in fear.

"Woah, woah, calm down." Phineas held up his hands and also moved farther back, hoping to appear non threatening. "We're Phineas and Ferb, from the future."

Isabella paused. "From the future? Wait, how's that possible."

"We're pre-time travel." Ferb cut in before Phineas could speak again. He turned to Isabella. "Later in the summer we discover time travel."

"Really? Neat." Isabella said.

"Hey, do us a favor and explain this to Buford and Baljeet?" Phineas asked. "You're not really friends yet, but you will be. And they already know next time we show up. We gotta keep the timeline intact."

"Um… okay…" Isabella said. "You know, I think I'll stick with my Phineas for now. It's simpler, and that's saying something."

"Wait till she finds out you're the Phineas she ends up dating." Ferb muttered in Phineas' ear.

"Ferb, _shut up."_ Phineas hissed.

Ferb suddenly pulled out the illusion gun and zapped the time machine. Phineas looked at him curiously.

"Hey, where'd you go?" Isabella called.

"Timeline." Ferb said back.

"Uh… okay, again?"

"Down, down, down! D-O-W-N, down!" came Candace's voice. She ran through the gate.

"Hey Candace, is Phineas... home?" Isabella asked, as Candace ran off, still screaming "Down, down, I say!"

Isabella walked through the gate as Phineas realized what day this was and looked up to see the beginning of a rollercoaster.

"Hey Phineas." Isabella said as they approached the fence, and Phineas realized exactly what Baljeet meant about Isabella's pupils forming hearts when she looked at him. How in the world had he not noticed before? It was painfully obvious.

"Hey Isabella." past Phineas replied.

"Whatcha doin'?"

"Building a rollercoaster."

"In your backyard?"

"Some of it."

"Wow. Isn't that kind of impossible?"

"Some might say."

"Hey Ferb!" Isabella called, waving. Ferb waves back.

"Does your stepbrother ever talk?"

"Too much these days." Phineas muttered.

Ferb raised an eyebrow at him along with a cocky smirk.

"I was gonna go to the pool." past Isabella said. "You wanna go swimming?"

"Kind of in the middle of something here." past Phineas said, gesturing to the rollercoaster.

Phineas smacked his forehead. "God, I missed every hint, didn't I?"

"Every single one." Ferb said, patting Phineas' shoulder. "She can wait ten years, right?"

"Shut up." Phineas mumbled into his hand.

"Oh, right. Okay, I'll see you later then." She walked back out of the gate, not seeing their still invisible time machine.

"Okay. Hey Ferb! You got enough rivets up there?" past Phineas called.

Ferb have a thumbs up.

"Hey, where's Perry?" past Phineas asked.

"You learn a lot as you grow up, kiddo." Phineas said with a smile at his past self.

As past Phineas walked towards the rollercoaster, Phineas turned to Ferb. "You know I swear I still remember every hill and curve of that coaster." he said with a nostalgic smile.

"Me too." Ferb said, smiling the same way, and glanced back at the backyard. "It was legendary. Both times."

"We chose to relive this day." Phineas said. He chuckled sadly. "We can't do that anymore, can we?"

"No, we can't." Ferb said. He gave Phineas a pointed look. "But it doesn't change anything."

"Yeah, you said that before. What do you mean, 'it doesn't change anything'? Obviously things are gonna change."

"Come on." Ferb said, walking back towards the time machine.

"Ferb, wha— just tell me what's going on!"

"Come on." Ferb said.

Phineas sighed in exasperation as he climbed into the time machine and Ferb sent them back once again. When they arrived this time Phineas turned to look at the time machine. "Are we staying invisible now?" he asked.

"Yup. Wouldn't want to scar any toddlers for life."

"Toddlers, what…"

"Hi!"

Phineas stood up and peered over the machine to see where the very loud voice had come from. There he was, standing on the edge of their driveway with Ferb (who was hiding behind him) and his mom, and talking to Isabella, who was standing with her mother.

All of them looked about 4 years old.

"My name's Phineas!" the toddler called. "Wha's your name?"

"I-Isabella," the girl said, staring at Phineas with wonder.

"Hi'ya Isabella!" past Phineas said happily. He pointed behind him. "This is Ferb! He's my fav'rit brother! Cummon, say hi Ferb!"

Ferb simply moved farther behind Phineas.

"Aww, you were adorable." Phineas said, folding his hands together.

"Shut up." Ferb said, now standing next to him so as to see the scene better. "No more adorable than you."

"Yep. I'm a cutie pie." Phineas said, closing his eyes and sticking his tongue out. Ferb laughed.

"Come on, one more." Ferb said, sitting back down.

"Hang on, hang on." Phineas said. Past Phineas reached out and grabbed Isabella's hand, shaking it to the point of making Isabella's whole body shake with it, which made Ferb shrink back from the both of them and run over to their mother. He smiled.

Then he turned around and sat back down while Ferb sent them back one more time.

This time they appeared in the front yard, and Ferb changed the settings on the ray gun and zapped the front wall of the house.

"Ferb!" Phineas cried in surprise.

"Calm down." Ferb said. "We can see them, but they can't see us."

"Them?" Phineas asked, and when he turned back around he saw slightly younger-looking versions of Phineas and Ferb, and 8-year-old Candace, and Linda Flynn and Lawrence Fletcher standing on the stairs. Lawrence was kneeling in front of Phineas, who was hiding behind Candace's leg.

"You must be Phineas Flynn." Lawrence was saying. "My name is Lawrence Fletcher. It's nice to meet you, but I think there's someone else you'll like a little more than me." He stepped to the side to reveal someone clinging to his leg. "This is Ferb." he said.

There was a pause, tiny Phineas took a deep breath, and then talked very loud. "Hi! My name's Phineas Carnell Flynn and I'm three years old and I made a cuckoo clock that Bucky can fit inside and be the cuckoo and Bucky is my dog and I can do really cool stuff but I need to practice more 'cause I ain't patient enough to do everythin' yet and I mostly draw 'cause of that fact that I jus' mentioned and what's your name?" He said all of this in one breath.

Ferb ducked almost entirely behind his father's leg. " _Quieter, please."_ he whispered.

Past Phineas blinked and turned to his mother. "Mama, why do they sound so weird?"

"Phineas!" Linda scolded.

But Lawrence chuckled. "It's alright. It's called an accent. Sometimes people who come from different areas of the world sound differently when they talk."

"Huh." past Phineas said. In a second, he was grinning. He put his hands on his knees and leaned around Lawrence's leg to see Ferb again. "Hey Ferb, I like your accent. It sounds _cool!_ You wanna go see your bed?"

Phineas laughed. "I think that sums up the early years of our relationship pretty well." he said.

Ferb grinned right back.

Then Phineas turned back to the two toddlers. Past Phineas was grabbing past Ferb's hand and pulling him up the steps. "I don't even remember this, Ferb." he whispered.

"You don't?" Ferb asked in surprise.

"No." Phineas said as the toddlers ran out of sight and Ferb turned the front wall back to normal. "I don't really have any clear memories before… well, about the time we met Isabella. The last place we visited before this one is one of my earliest memories. You were just… always there."

"Well," Ferb said quietly. "That's my point."

Phineas turned to look at him. "Huh?"

Ferb turned the ray up to the bedroom and showed the interior of that. Past Phineas was bouncing on the bed as past Ferb watched. "My point, Phineas," he said. "Is that I've always been there for you, and you for me, and _that's_ not going to change. _That,"_ he gestured up at the bedroom. "Is not going to change. The things we've done, the bond we share, the people we've become, is not going to change just because I'm across the ocean. We'll always find ways to talk and find time to spend together, because… we need to. Because that's something we've done every day for the past fifteen years, and that fact is not going to change. Just try and stop us. Nothing as simple as an ocean is going to seperate Phineas Flynn and Ferb Fletcher."

Phineas laughed and blinked away the tears that were forming. "That was really corny, Ferb." he said.

"Ah, but you loved it."

"Yeah I did. Come here."

And as Phineas and Ferb hugged in the time machine, the Phineas and Ferb standing in the bedroom several feet above them hugged each other at the exact same time.

...

"Oh, I'm going to miss you so much!" Candace said, squeezing Ferb and Phineas both together.

"Candace, you already left for college yourself, like, five years ago. You're used to not seeing us everyday." Phineas said through squished cheeks.

"Hush and let me hug you."

"Okay, Candace."

"Oh, I want to get in on that action. Linda, shall we?"

"Ahh, no!" Phineas complained as both their parents joined in on the family hug.

Buford was laughing in the background.

When everyone had finally had their share and pulled away, Baljeet gave Ferb a high five and Buford was about to give Ferb a noogie before Ferb held up a warning hand and Buford backed off, settling for a high five himself.

Then Ferb immediately turned around and gave Phineas a noogie.

"You're a hypocrite." Phineas said, smoothing out his hair.

"Thank you." Ferb said, grinning. He moved towards the car sitting on the road, and turned and waved back before getting in the car. "Bye everyone. Thanks for coming for the send-off, Candace."

"Don't mention it, rat."

Ferb grinned wider and locked eyes with Phineas one last time.

Phineas smiled, still a little sadly, and Ferb returned it, also a little sadly. Then he climbed in his car, driving up the street and around the corner, and then he was gone.

Whether there was a walk down memory lane the night before or not, Phineas was still going to miss Ferb a ton. But he took comfort, for the moment, in knowing that Ferb was right, and that they would always be brothers.

And some teleporters and holographic projections so that he could visit Ferb whenever he wanted definitely didn't hurt…


End file.
